Where Do You Rate The Importance Of Antiviruses In Your Setup

I am no different than most here and have enjoyed testing out the various security products and their directions. But even having scanner after scanner installed, i still leaned heavily on an Antivirus for protection. And as good as some of them are, i still felt vulnerable in my internet and email use because of the way an antivirus works (Reactive Approach). I have concluded that what works best for my usage is to run my browsers, email, etc in a 'Sandbox' and therefore greatly reduced the importance i used to place on an antivirus catching everything i may encounter. So now, an antivirus has become just a part of my security setup instead of it being the 'Main and most Important' part.

How bout you?.

Have you gone or are thinking about going in this direction?.

Or do you still place the most importance of your setup on your Antivirus?.

I'm thinking like you Tobacco. First and foremost a sandbox! IF something passes through then you look for whatever makes you feel safer. And even there the AV is getting overcome. The classical AV that is.

I constantly read about all the CIPS, HIPS and sandbox programs and try to stay abreast of all the new technologies out there, but for me, I still depend and rely on my antivirus program as my main line of defense. I primarily use the internet for email, reading newsgroups, online banking and educational requirements. I do not surf the internet and download stuff like I use to, if I did, I would consider a more pro-active approach to internet secuity. As it stands right now, my current antivirus solution provides the performance, protection and stability I need to feel secure and well protected when using my computer online.

fortunatly most antivirus programs don't just detect virus. they have mutated into a different program than they were a year or even six months ago. And yes I do still depend on it's capabilities to do what it does along with my other security programs. In my opinion the people that have quit useing av programs are making a possible bad mistake. One of these day it might have stopped the one piece of malware that got by your other apps and raped your computer. Is it really worth taking that chance. It is not a matter of cost since there are some pretty deceny free av's.

It,s still no.1 for me.
Just take an example, if u are bound to run ur PC with a single application out of these-- Av, Firewall, HIPS, Sandbox, Behav Blocker, etc, what u will choose.
For me AV will be the first choice.

Well i didn't quit my AV either. I just don't depend on it. I prefer to keep it. I won't "spit" at those who first protected me.
But they do have to pick up the pace. Some are. Otherwise i will get them out later on.

An av is my last defense. If something I do is completely dumb, or if the other users on my pc mess up and it somehow gets my first lines of defense(pretty hard to do), then I have it there waiting for me. If it wasn't for the other users that use this pc, I would probably not have an av(actually, I probably wouldn't have Windows XP either, but that's another story )

I believe it is the first security software that should be loaded and up and running...the very bare minimum in PC security. Yes you can have other security but make no mistake without an AV there is a hole in you protection.